|OT| The PC Hardware Thread -- Buy/Upgrade/Ask/Answer

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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Is Crucial RAM good?
Sure.

G.Skill, Crucial, Corsair, Hyper X and all those other companies do not manufacture the memory anyway. They buy the modules (dies) from Samsung, Hynix, Micron, bin it, make it look cool and sell as their own. It works a bit like Asus making a graphics card. They also rely on Nvidia/AMD and other companies to provide the essential parts but can design their own PCBs and cooling solutions. But there are guidelines they must follow through.
There are different memory dies from each main manufacturer as well. For example, there is Samsung B-Die, Samsung D-Die, Micron E-Die, Hynix MFR and a lot more. What kind of memory dies are being used and their silicon lottery is way more important than who made the Memory DIMMs, as all dies have a bit different characteristic.
For example, Micron E-Die can reach high clock speeds, but Samsung b-die can tolerate higher voltages and tighter timings (the speed isn't bad either).

But all that stuff is only relevant if you are going to manually OC. If not, ignore everything I've said, and go with "sure".
 
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NarohDethan

There was a fish in the percolator!
Apr 6, 2019
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Sure.

G.Skill, Crucial, Corsair, Hyper X and all those other companies do not manufacture the memory anyway. They buy the modules (dies) from Samsung, Hynix, Micron, bin it, make it look cool and sell as their own. It works a bit like Asus making a graphics card. They also rely on Nvidia/AMD and other companies to provide the essential parts but can design their own PCBs and cooling solutions. But there are guidelines they must follow through.
There are different memory dies from each main manufacturer as well. For example, there is Samsung B-Die, Samsung D-Die, Micron E-Die, Hynix MFR and a lot more. What kind of memory dies are being used and their silicon lottery is way more important than who made the Memory DIMMs, as all dies have a bit different characteristic.
For example, Micron E-Die can reach high clock speeds, but Samsung b-die can tolerate higher voltages and tighter timings (the speed isn't bad either).

But all that stuff is only relevant if you are going to manually OC. If not, ignore everything I've said, and go with "sure".
Oh I see, thanks for the info!
 

Copons

MetaMember
Nov 12, 2018
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Quick update: I've replaced the new PSU with the old one (blessed be my hoarding habits!), and it's working!

Now on to figure out how to request a repair/replacement from the store I've bought it (damn me for saying "eh, it's just a PSU, for once I can not buy it on Amazon"). Apparently only over the phone, which in the UK mostly means talking with a Scottish call centre, which means the language barrier is just too high for me 😅
Hopefully the local store will reopen shortly, so I can go ask IRL.
 

Stop It

Junior Member
Dec 19, 2018
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Sure.

G.Skill, Crucial, Corsair, Hyper X and all those other companies do not manufacture the memory anyway. They buy the modules (dies) from Samsung, Hynix, Micron, bin it, make it look cool and sell as their own. It works a bit like Asus making a graphics card. They also rely on Nvidia/AMD and other companies to provide the essential parts but can design their own PCBs and cooling solutions. But there are guidelines they must follow through.
There are different memory dies from each main manufacturer as well. For example, there is Samsung B-Die, Samsung D-Die, Micron E-Die, Hynix MFR and a lot more. What kind of memory dies are being used and their silicon lottery is way more important than who made the Memory DIMMs, as all dies have a bit different characteristic.
For example, Micron E-Die can reach high clock speeds, but Samsung b-die can tolerate higher voltages and tighter timings (the speed isn't bad either).

But all that stuff is only relevant if you are going to manually OC. If not, ignore everything I've said, and go with "sure".
Crucial do as they're a brand of Micron, just saying!

That's why they have such a good list of Laptop compat especially as they're usually the OEM for the devices.
Is Crucial RAM good?
Yes, and Ok, and no.

Because they are a manufacture (See above), they make everything from decent stuff, to rubbish, because depending on their yields, you either get good stuff or not, and (usually) how much you pay gets you higher in the silicon lottery. Again, if you're not overclocking, RAM is RAM, Timings and speed aside.
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
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Nah, TKL is the best. It even has the ISO big fat enter key. Love it.
ANSI layout is for chumps aka I don't like it.

All my recent mechanical keyboards are ISO Layout, TKL or Keypad-less for better ergonomics. They've helped massively to relieve my RSI twinges that were starting a few years ago. I am really trying hard not to buy a new TKL with Red or Silver (Speed) switches as all my current boards are Browns or Hybrid-Capacitive in the case of my NovaTouch TKL.
 
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Stevey

Gromlintroid
Dec 8, 2018
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So, as it's clear all this electricity talk is total magic for me.
I've tried looking at PDUs but seem to be all oriented to server-racks, with specs I'm not familiar with, and prices that look... low?
On the other hand, when we talk about "fancy power strips", is this what it means?



I mean, Belkin is the only name I recognize. Everything else looks cheap, and is cheaply priced as well.

Except this, but for some reason it looks fishy to me! 😄

I use APC Surgearrests




I guess these are the newer version.

Never had any problems.
 
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Copons

MetaMember
Nov 12, 2018
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I curse the damned day I decided to buy a 10-keys keyboard in the off-chance I feel the need to replay the dancing parts of Sid Meier's Pirates.
Now I'm stuck with an unnecessarily wide keyboard, and the left side of the mouse is almost destroyed for all the times I hit the keyboard corner. 😭

(Also I should look into getting some custom keycaps. The original ones are ok, but I wouldn't mind something fancier.)
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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Just for gaming? Maybe. But for work related stuff having a Keyboard without those extra numerical keys is nightmare fuel. And so, ALL my keyboards have them. Even Laptops.
 

Copons

MetaMember
Nov 12, 2018
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Just for gaming? Maybe. But for work related stuff having a Keyboard without those extra numerical keys is nightmare fuel. And so, ALL my keyboards have them. Even Laptops.
I use the same keyboard for gaming and working (programming), and I think I haven't touched the 10-keys in... 20 years at least?
(except when dancing in Sid Meier's Pirates, which is not really the majority of my time 😄)

I guess if you work with numbers it might be more useful?
I haven't used a calculator in a long time as well, so the 10-keys layout feels very unfamiliar to me at this point.
 

knch

Junior Member
Sep 23, 2019
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There are separate little keypads you can hook up using this new fangled connector called USB, so you can just hook it up if you ever need to input more than two numbers in that spreadsheet you open up once every two years. (#TKL4life)
 
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
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You can take my Microsoft Natural Keyboard from my cold, dead hands.

(I use the keypad all the time ... for debug keys)

Anyway, I have an ultrawide monitor, the keyboard + mouse area still isn't as wide as the monitor, if the keyboard was more narrow I'd not have my arms parallel with one hand on WASD and one on the mouse -- which I assume is the best positioning ergonomically.
 
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knch

Junior Member
Sep 23, 2019
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You can take my Microsoft Natural Keyboard from my cold, dead hands.
Fuck that F-lock key though. (Also f-word this X-Bows for not having home/end)

(I use the keypad all the time ... for debug keys)

Anyway, I have an ultrawide monitor, the keyboard + mouse area still isn't as wide as the monitor, if the keyboard was more narrow I'd not have my arms parallel with one hand on WASD and one on the mouse -- which I assume is the best positioning ergonomically.
You can just slide the keyboard over to the left if that's a problem. Also, how are your arms parallel while your MS natural keyboard isn't?!
 
OP
Durante

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
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You can just slide the keyboard over to the left if that's a problem. Also, how are your arms parallel while your MS natural keyboard isn't?!
My arms are (mostly) parallel when I'm using the mouse.
The angle in the natural keyboard means that my wrists are (again, mostly) straight when using the keyboard.
 
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knch

Junior Member
Sep 23, 2019
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My arms are (mostly) parallel when I'm using the mouse.
The angle in the natural keyboard means that my wrists are (again, mostly) straight when using the keyboard.
Keeping your wrist dead straight and not having to move them would be the most ergonomically sound, position of your arms shouldn't matter that much if you're not straining them in any way.
 

Arulan

Lizardman
Dec 7, 2018
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You can take my Microsoft Natural Keyboard from my cold, dead hands.

(I use the keypad all the time ... for debug keys)

Anyway, I have an ultrawide monitor, the keyboard + mouse area still isn't as wide as the monitor, if the keyboard was more narrow I'd not have my arms parallel with one hand on WASD and one on the mouse -- which I assume is the best positioning ergonomically.
I agree with WASD and mouse being parallel, in addition to being at armrest width away from your sides (at most). I also play a low-sensitivity, meaning my mouse pad is 45cm wide. Even if I wanted to use a full-size keyboard, that would never work.

For a lot of these smaller keyboards you can program different layers or combinations for physical keys you don't have. Some people can get by with this:



I have started to see a few customs like this though too:

 
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Arulan

Lizardman
Dec 7, 2018
538
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I see your ^^ and raise you:
Heh. Not a bad idea. Though at that point you may just want to get a separate numpad. Speaking of which, there a good number of custom macro pads as well.



 
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knch

Junior Member
Sep 23, 2019
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wait ... what is that? do you have a link?

Heh. Not a bad idea. Though at that point you may just want to get a separate numpad. Speak of which, there a good number of custom macro pads as well.
I already suggested as much earlier, but that sure was handy on my Razer Tron keyboard (it was horrendous shit, but that was handy.)
(I also have a macro keypad somewhere.)
 
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Doctor Ironic

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Mar 18, 2019
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So what brands should I look for and avoid for NVME M.2 SSDs? I remember Western Digital being good in the HDD days, are they alright nowadays?

Also, why do some SSDs have heatsinks? Is that really necessary?
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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Also, why do some SSDs have heatsinks? Is that really necessary?
Yes, all of them should be used with heatsinks. They can get hot during sustained read/write operations, independent of brand or pci express generation.
The ones coming with big, substantial heatsinks are pci express 4.0 though. 4.0 doubles the transfer speed in comparison to 3.0, which introduces further thermal challenges to NVMes. There is currently one controller capable of generation 4.0 speeds from Phison and all drives use them. This controller is getting exceptionally hot during sustained operations and needs the extra cooling.

That said, if you do not plan to hammer your drive with terabyte of data, no heatsink or the ones coming with your mb should be good enough.

For brand reputation: Samsung is the one most people trust the most, but generation 3 NVMes are "evolved" enough to start coming in the "it's all good enough" category. Just make sure to pick a "true" NVMe. There are drives with the same form factor, which fit most sockets but only operate at SATA speeds.
In general: M+B Key = SATA speeds, M Key = PCI-E x4 speeds (what you want).



For generation 4.0: As said, they are currently all using the same controllers and same flash memory. Doesn't matter which one you buy.
Samsung is supposed to release their own generation 4 NVMe drives this year. They will outperform the drives using the current Phison controllers but are also expected to come with the usual Samsung premium price.

For Samsung quality:
My incredibly old Samsung 830 EVO 256GB drive, that I'm currently using as my Linux drive is still at 100% condition (27801 GB write).
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB is also at 100% (30427GB write).
Crucial MX500 1TB is at 99% (11456 GB write)
While my Samsung 256GB 960 EVO NVMe, holding my win10 installation is already at 91% condition (25588GB write).

That said, the 960 EVO will easily hold me another 3-4 years, probably longer. I'm trying to make a point that old Samsung quality is not necessarily new Samsung quality.
 

Pogi

illiterate
Jun 25, 2019
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I was once here asking for an advice but I didn't buy the 2070 Super because the pandemic is happening and the price in my country is just plain ridiculous. Should I wait for the new GPUs instead? I found a "normal" price for the GPU but I have tingling suspicions as this GPU should be cheaper than what it was in its release not exactly the same a year later.
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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I was once here asking for an advice but I didn't buy the 2070 Super because the pandemic is happening and the price in my country is just plain ridiculous. Should I wait for the new GPUs instead? I found a "normal" price for the GPU but I have tingling suspicions as this GPU should be cheaper than what it was in its release not exactly the same a year later.
We will get high end RTX 3000 cards this year, an RTX 3080 and an RTX 3080Ti. For the rest? I'm not sure they are going to arrive in 2020.

The RTX 2000 series release was staggered.

2080 / 2080 TiSeptember 2018
2070October 2018
2060January 2019

And those are the official release windows, lack of availability and price gauging would tell an even worse story.
Nvidia might forgo a 2020 release for low-mid cards this time altogether. There are rumours about disagreements between Nvidia and TSMC, and RTX low to mid-range GPUs might be produced by Samsung instead.

How does this help you? Unfortunately, not at all.

Option 1:
Play the waiting game, and deal with whatever GPU you have now. Worst case scenario: Spring 2021.

Option 2:
Up your budget significantly to be able to buy a high end RTX 3000 card that is guaranteed to come in ~3-4 months.

Option 3:
Buy an RTX 2070S now, enjoy the upgrade but have buyer's remorse should an RTX 3070 arrive in a couple of months.

For covid19 price increases. Can't say much about that. Europe is stable, so far. But I've noticed a significant increase in PSU and Mainboard prices in the U.S. for example.
 
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Pogi

illiterate
Jun 25, 2019
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Yeah, I think I should wait for the new cards to come, together with AMD's offerings and buy a secondhand / clearance 2080. Is there a big jump to 3000 or Big Navi? I got bitten twice with my 760 to 970 upgrade few months before Pascal and earlier with the AGP/PCI-E era (lmao).
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
3,220
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Is there a big jump to 3000 or Big Navi?
Rumours, take with lots of doubt and salt please:
-There was a "leak" of an RTX 3000 card on the 3D Mark Time Spy Benchmark Database. It was about 30% faster in that benchmark as a 2080Ti. People believe it must be the RTX 3080. But there are no indications towards 3080 or 3080Ti.
-Big Navi is supposed to be somewhere in-between 3080 and 3080Ti.
-We have no idea about Big Navi Ray Tracing performance. Or if AMD is going to release their own machine learned upscaling technology.
 
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Pogi

illiterate
Jun 25, 2019
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Well, I better wait. Im just playing Parkitect and CS:GO for the moment, would really love to play Horizon in its full glory, so that would have to wait too. hahaha
 
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Doctor Ironic

Junior Member
Mar 18, 2019
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Yes, all of them should be used with heatsinks. They can get hot during sustained read/write operations, independent of brand or pci express generation.
The ones coming with big, substantial heatsinks are pci express 4.0 though. 4.0 doubles the transfer speed in comparison to 3.0, which introduces further thermal challenges to NVMes. There is currently one controller capable of generation 4.0 speeds from Phison and all drives use them. This controller is getting exceptionally hot during sustained operations and needs the extra cooling.

That said, if you do not plan to hammer your drive with terabyte of data, no heatsink or the ones coming with your mb should be good enough.

For brand reputation: Samsung is the one most people trust the most, but generation 3 NVMes are "evolved" enough to start coming in the "it's all good enough" category. Just make sure to pick a "true" NVMe. There are drives with the same form factor, which fit most sockets but only operate at SATA speeds.
In general: M+B Key = SATA speeds, M Key = PCI-E x4 speeds (what you want).



For generation 4.0: As said, they are currently all using the same controllers and same flash memory. Doesn't matter which one you buy.
Samsung is supposed to release their own generation 4 NVMe drives this year. They will outperform the drives using the current Phison controllers but are also expected to come with the usual Samsung premium price.

For Samsung quality:
My incredibly old Samsung 830 EVO 256GB drive, that I'm currently using as my Linux drive is still at 100% condition (27801 GB write).
Samsung 850 EVO 500GB is also at 100% (30427GB write).
Crucial MX500 1TB is at 99% (11456 GB write)
While my Samsung 256GB 960 EVO NVMe, holding my win10 installation is already at 91% condition (25588GB write).

That said, the 960 EVO will easily hold me another 3-4 years, probably longer. I'm trying to make a point that old Samsung quality is not necessarily new Samsung quality.
Thank you for this, I appreciate it - but I'm afraid I still don't quite understand. That's not because you're a bad writer, it's on me. Mainly where I'm getting tripped up are these two sentences -

Yes, all of them should be used with heatsinks. They can get hot during sustained read/write operations, independent of brand or pci express generation...

...That said, if you do not plan to hammer your drive with terabyte of data, no heatsink or the ones coming with your mb should be good enough.
To elaborate - my plan is to continue saving money until September when the Nvidia 3080s hit, and keep an eye out for deals on NVMe M.2 SSDs along the way. There's currently a sale Western Digital is having, and I'm confused by the option to buy them with or without heatsinks: WD_BLACK SN750 NVMe™ SSD | Western Digital Store

Given I don't plan on doing huge transfers except to download Steam games, am I correct that they would not need heatsinks according to your post?

Also, is this a decent deal I should jump on, or should I wait to see if I can snag PCI Express 4.0 drives?
 
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ISee

Oh_no!
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Thank you for this, I appreciate it - but I'm afraid I still don't quite understand. That's not because you're a bad writer, it's on me. Mainly where I'm getting tripped up are these two sentences -



To elaborate - my plan is to continue saving money until September when the Nvidia 3080s hit, and keep an eye out for deals on NVMe M.2 SSDs along the way. There's currently a sale Western Digital is having, and I'm confused by the option to buy them with or without heatsinks: WD_BLACK SN750 NVMe™ SSD | Western Digital Store

Given I don't plan on doing huge transfers except to download Steam games, am I correct that they would not need heatsinks according to your post?

Also, is this a decent deal I should jump on, or should I wait to see if I can snag PCI Express 4.0 drives?
My fault, it is contradictory. I'm trying to give people enough information so they can make their own decisions. Without giving clear recommendations.

It is doable without heatsinks, but high-end drives have them for good reason. You should use a heatsink, though personally I'm relying on the ones that came with my mainboard.

Considering that you can get 2 TB 4.0 drives for that price, like the Sabrent 2TB Rocket, I'm not sure $400 for a 3.0 drive makes a lot of sense.
That said, there can be differences how the flash memory is being used on those drives, which will affect longevity. Relevant for professional use, the WD 750 is marketed towards gamers, as the Saberent. You'll still get years of usage out of them even with constant game installs/deletes and by the time your 2TB NVMe dies, you'll be able to replace it for $70.

For usefulness: It doesn't help, it doesn't hurt. Installing games through steam is faster, because it takes steam less time to reserve space on the drive before starting the download. That's a negligible difference. Will it help it the future? Probably. But prices should be even better by then.

When building new: You can find 1TB gen 3.0 NVMes for just over 110€/$ in the u.s. and europe. That's a bit more expansive than a 1TB SATA SSD or a SATA SSD and HDD combo. Putting in NVMe drives into new builds is starting to become cheap enough to become the standard.
 

Doctor Ironic

Junior Member
Mar 18, 2019
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My fault, it is contradictory. I'm trying to give people enough information so they can make their own decisions. Without giving clear recommendations.

It is doable without heatsinks, but high-end drives have them for good reason. You should use a heatsink, though personally I'm relying on the ones that came with my mainboard.

Considering that you can get 2 TB 4.0 drives for that price, like the Sabrent 2TB Rocket, I'm not sure $400 for a 3.0 drive makes a lot of sense.
That said, there can be differences how the flash memory is being used on those drives, which will affect longevity. Relevant for professional use, the WD 750 is marketed towards gamers, as the Saberent. You'll still get years of usage out of them even with constant game installs/deletes and by the time your 2TB NVMe dies, you'll be able to replace it for $70.

For usefulness: It doesn't help, it doesn't hurt. Installing games through steam is faster, because it takes steam less time to reserve space on the drive before starting the download. That's a negligible difference. Will it help it the future? Probably. But prices should be even better by then.

When building new: You can find 1TB gen 3.0 NVMes for just over 110€/$ in the u.s. and europe. That's a bit more expansive than a 1TB SATA SSD or a SATA SSD and HDD combo. Putting in NVMe drives into new builds is starting to become cheap enough to become the standard.
This clears everything up for me. Thanks so much!
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
3,026
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Finland
So, what would be a good NAS box these days? As silent as possible. I have a bunch of drives I'm eventually looking to move out of my pc into an external box so as roomy as possible would also be nice.

But seems like maybe they are more expensive than I expected. :blobweary:

Is Synology the brand to look at? QNAP and Asustor equivalents seem at least cheaper.
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Hey, it's my monthly worried posts about temps ! As I was saying to a friend on discord, I shudder to think about my temp on demanding games like Control.

So I have that shit
NZXT H500

What model of Noctua CPU cooler would fit, this one ?
Noctua NH-U12A, Ventirad CPU Premium avec Ventilateurs NF-A12x25 PWM Ultra Performants (120 mm, Marron)
Amazon product
And if I want to go nuclear winter, would that case be a good fit for airflow ?
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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NHU12A is an exceptionally good cooler.
Meshify C is a good case. (though I prefer the cheaper p400a, but it is constantly sold out)

The problem is the~200€ investment. At this point you might as well get the r5 3600 [~170€] and get better temperatures and performance that way.
 

Li Kao

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NHU12A is an exceptionally good cooler.
Meshify C is a good case. (though I prefer the cheaper p400a, but it is constantly sold out)

The problem is the~200€ investment. At this point you might as well get the r5 3600 [~170€] and get better temperatures and performance that way.
I kinda toyed with the idea of waiting for the 4000 series. Wait, will my B450 Tomahawk be compatible ?
And the plan just took an arrow to the knee. I don't know if I missed a timed discount but the cooler got from 99 to 124 euros overnight :anguished-face:

Wait, ISee you think a 3600 with stock cooler might be better than my 2600x with stock cooler ?
 
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ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
3,220
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Wait, will my B450 Tomahawk be compatible?
B450 will support Ryzen 4000, but it will be a special situation:

Official AMD post about it on Reddit

  1. We will develop and enable our motherboard partners with the code to support “Zen 3”-based processors in select beta BIOSes for AMD B450 and X470 motherboards.
  2. These optional BIOS updates will disable support for many existing AMD Ryzen™ Desktop Processor models to make the necessary ROM space available.
  3. The select beta BIOSes will enable a one-way upgrade path for AMD Ryzen Processors with “Zen 3,” coming later this year. Flashing back to an older BIOS version will not be supported.
  4. To reduce the potential for confusion, our intent is to offer BIOS download only to verified customers of 400 Series motherboards who have purchased a new desktop processor with “Zen 3” inside. This will help us ensure that customers have a bootable processor on-hand after the BIOS flash, minimizing the risk a user could get caught in a no-boot situation.
  5. Timing and availability of the BIOS updates will vary and may not immediately coincide with the availability of the first “Zen 3”-based processors.
  6. This is the final pathway AMD can enable for 400 Series motherboards to add new CPU support. CPU releases beyond “Zen 3” will require a newer motherboard.
  7. AMD continues to recommend that customers choose an AMD 500 Series motherboard for the best performance and features with our new CPUs.
For Ryzen 3000, that's no problem at all. Just make sure to be on the newest BIOS for your Mainboard.
 

Li Kao

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I have no idea of what I'm talking about, but would the Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler be a respectable replacement to the NHU12A ?
It's 60 euros, that's certainly better than 120+

I plan to buy Control in August and would like if possible to avoid calling the firemen.


Edit - Or the Noctua NH-U12S Chromax Black, 120mm. I mean, it's not the end of the world but with a glass panel I maybe should keep it black.
Why are there so many fucking CPU cooler ref ? :anguished-face:
 

ISee

Oh_no!
Mar 1, 2019
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I have no idea of what I'm talking about, but would the Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler be a respectable replacement to the NHU12A ?
It's 60 euros, that's certainly better than 120+

I plan to buy Control in August and would like if possible to avoid calling the firemen.


Edit - Or the Noctua NH-U12S Chromax Black, 120mm. I mean, it's not the end of the world but with a glass panel I maybe should keep it black.
Why are there so many fucking CPU cooler ref ? :anguished-face:
It ain't bad, but why not save some money? Pretty much the same, performance wise.

Amazon product
 
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Li Kao

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It ain't bad, but why not save some money? Pretty much the same, performance wise.

Amazon product
I'm very cool with saving money :coffee-blob:

I see it comes with pre-applied paste, I suppose I should be some just in case ? Never did that, should I target a specific paste or brand or caracteristics etc. ?
 
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ISee

Oh_no!
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I'm very cool with saving money :coffee-blob:

I see it comes with pre-applied paste, I suppose I should be some just in case ? Never did that, should I target a specific paste or brand or caracteristics etc. ?
If you want to save money, go with the pre applied paste.
The consent is that Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is the best paste out there. But it is also expansive. I do not think it makes much sense to spend 8€ on paste with a 40€ cooler. You'll be shaving off another 2-3°C, max!
 
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Li Kao

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If you want to save money, go with the pre applied paste.
The consent is that Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is the best paste out there. But it is also expansive. I do not think it makes much sense to spend 8€ on paste with a 40€ cooler. You'll be shaving off another 2-3°C, max!
Well, I was basing my logic on the horror pictures on some amazon reviews.
 

NarohDethan

There was a fish in the percolator!
Apr 6, 2019
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By the way the 212 EVO Black Edition was a breeze to mount, they have replaces the weird X shaped thingy with separate support ‘rails’
 
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knch

Junior Member
Sep 23, 2019
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So, what would be a good NAS box these days? As silent as possible. I have a bunch of drives I'm eventually looking to move out of my pc into an external box so as roomy as possible would also be nice.

But seems like maybe they are more expensive than I expected. :blobweary:

Is Synology the brand to look at? QNAP and Asustor equivalents seem at least cheaper.
They are indeed not cheap especially the larger units. All are about as easy to use as the next one, so don't focus too much on the brand. Make sure to buy a unit with more slots than you need if you're ever thinking of expanding unless you want to spend an eternity when doing so.

(Specific to my Synology) They're only silent for as long as the CPU fan doesn't collect too much dust, after which it's a tossup between the fan not working at all and OMG dafudge is that horrid noise?! (a.k.a. add some dust filtration)
 
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